The Reload

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The Reload is an independent, subscriber-supported publication founded by award-winning journalist Stephen Gutowski. It is dedicated to accurately reporting the details and nuances of big gun stories. It sheds light on under-reported aspects of gun ownership in America. It informs instead of misleads or enrages. It focuses on sober, serious reporting on–as well as analysis of–firearms policy and politics to accomplish those goals. No hot takes. No screaming. No manipulating. Just reporting. The Reload aims to be the best place to find fair and discerning reporting on firearms and how they intersect with politics. By applying rigorous journalistic standards and speaking to both experts and advocates from all sides of the gun debate, we hope to produce accurate and compelling reporting. We are credentialed by the House of Representatives Press Gallery and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. In order to remain independent, The Reload will not take any kind of payment from anyone looking for favorable coverage or who seeks to otherwise manipulate our reporting. No secret deals for positive stories. No shady arrangements. We will strive to avoid even the appearance of impropriety at all times. Most of our coverage is and will always remain free in order to fulfill our mission of better informing the public about firearms, how they work, who owns them, and why. But keeping an independent publication afloat does cost a lot of money. The Reload relies on its paid members to make the in-depth coverage and on-the-ground reporting we provide possible. Source

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Experts Expect Supreme Court to Strike Down AR-15 Bans

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
The nation’s highest court will decide whether the Second Amendment protects so-called assault weapons, and there is widespread agreement about what direction it’s likely to go. A collection of scholars from across the ideological spectrum with decades of experience studying the Second Amendment and American gun laws told The Reload that Viramontes v. Cook County is one of the most important cases the High Court has taken to date.
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Newsletter: AR-15 Showdown at the Supreme Court

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
The Supreme Court is going to settle one of the most hotly debated constitutional questions in America: are AR-15s protected by the Second Amendment? This week, the Court agreed to hear a pair of cases against recently passed “assault weapons” bans.
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Analysis: SCOTUS Confronts Circuit Consensus on AR-15 Bans [Member Exclusive]

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By Jake Fogleman, Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
After years of suspense, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) will decide whether the Second Amendment protects AR-15s. When it does, the Court will not be mending an open circuit split, but instead confronting a landscape of unanimous outcomes among the federal courts of appeals. The Court on Tuesday granted cert in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, two separate cases the Court consolidated into one to consider next term.
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Virginia ‘Assault Firearms’ Ban Takes Effect Amid Murky Legal Situation, Record Rifle Sales

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
AR-15s and other popular rifles have been taken off store shelves in Virginia, even as two judges stopped at least some officials from enforcing the law, and sales hit new peaks. While FBI data released on Wednesday shows demand for the banned guns more than tripled to an all-time high in June, retailers are unwilling to risk stocking them due to concerns over legal liability.
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Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of AR-15 Bans

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By Jake Fogleman, Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
The nation’s highest court will decide if governments may ban the most popular rifle in America. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court announced that it granted cert in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. The cases, which the Court opted to consolidate into one, concern Second Amendment challenges to Cook County, Illinois’ local “assault weapon” ban ordinance and Connecticut’s similar statewide ban, respectively.
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Members’ Newsletter: Litigating the Impact of SCOTUS’s Second Amendment Decisions

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
The Supreme Court handed down the most Second Amendment cases in its history this term. Ok, sure, that’s still only two decisions. But what will the impact of those cases be? First up, I look at claims that the Court significantly changed how it applies the Bruen test. Then, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman looks at the impact of the overall term. He notes the practical implications are clearly broad, but what about the legal ones?
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Podcast: The Lawyer Who Slayed the ‘Vampire Rule’ Explains SCOTUS Gun Ruling (Ft. Alan Beck) [Member Early Access]

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
This week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down Hawaii’s broadest gun-carry restriction. To discuss the outcome of the case, we have the lawyer who won it on the show. Wolford v. Lopez was Alan Beck’s first case at SCOTUS, and it turned into his first win. He said he was very happy with where the Court came down and sees it opening several new avenues for Second Amendment challenges.
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Analysis: SCOTUS Delivers Little in the Way of New Second Amendment Guidance [Member Exclusive]

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By Jake Fogleman, Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) just handed down the most Second Amendment opinions in a single term. Yet, the decisions didn’t move the needle much on how lower courts should treat outstanding gun law questions. In the final month before taking their summer hiatus, the justices unanimously struck down a nearly 60-year-old statute that prohibits addicts or unlawful users of controlled substances from owning firearms, at least as applied to one particular non-violent marijuana user.
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Newsletter: SCTOUS Stakes Hawaii ‘Vampire Rule,’ Judge Blocks Virginia AR-15 Ban

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
This week delivered a slew of major rulings in marquee gun cases. First up, the Supreme Court handed down the final Second Amendment decision of its term. It struck down Hawaii’s ban on gun carriers entering publicly accessible private property, such as businesses, without the owner’s express permission. The ruling ends the Bruen-response law with the broadest potential impact, but one dissent argues it also radically reshapes the Bruen test.
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Analysis: Did SCOTUS Alter Its Second Amendment Test in Wolford? [Member Exclusive]

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By Stephen Gutowski Verified
| The Reload
“Judges are now free to insert any meaning they desire into the text of the Second Amendment and then demand the government provide analogues to fit that interpretation.” That’s what Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson wrote of the effect of the majority opinion in Wolford v. Lopez. She argued the  Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upended its Second Amendment test when it struck down Hawaii’s “Vampire Rule” on Thursday.
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The Reload Journalists

Brucker, Joseph
Gutowski, Stephen